Points reinstated for Belgian F3 Sprint Race

The FIA has decided to reinstate points for yesterday’s Formula 3 Sprint race, after originally declaring no points were to be awarded for Saturday’s event, as well as handing out a number of post-race penalties.

The original no-points ruling was made due to the lack of Green Flag running, amid three Safety Car periods in the 12-lap race.

The first Safety Car caution came about at the end of the first lap after Sebastian Montoya got tagged by Rafael Villagomez.

It wasn’t long after the Safety Car came in at the end of lap three that it was called out again as championship protagonist Josep Maria Marti and Gabrielle Mini came together at Turn 10, causing them both to spin out, before Marti subsequently collected Ido Cohen when rejoining the circuit.

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However, officials have deemed Mini culpable for the incident and he has received a five-place grid penalty for today’s Feature Race as a result.

Gabriel Bortoleto’s lap nine retirement brought out the third and final Safety Car.

The decision to reinstate the points means race-winner Caio Collet receives 11 points for his victory and for setting the fastest lap of the race.

The top 10 were all awarded the full allocation of Sprint Race points, which changes the championship picture.

The third-place finisher in the Sprint, Paul Aron now moves up to second in the standings on 102 points, tied with Marti and ahead of teammate Zak O’Sullivan on 100 points, who was demoted from fourth to 15th in the race order after being handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Another post-race penalty was handed out to Dino Beganovic, with the Prema driver handed a 10-second time penalty after being deemed responsible for the contact that led to Bortoleto’s retirement.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith has also been awarded a 10-second time penalty, for causing a collision that sent Oliver Goethe out of the Sprint Race at the second Safety Car restart.

After the points being reinstated, coupled with the post-race penalties, Bortoleto is still the championship leader with 144 points and he needs just a 39-point advantage to secure the title at the end of today’s Feature Race.